Your Views for January 6

Published January 6, 2013 - 12:05am

A bitter attack

In response to the letter written by Shawn Lathrop calling our president of the United States a “buffoon”: All presidents, Republican, Democrat or otherwise, have certain perks, and they should. The job they do is incredibly difficult. No one just rolled out of bed and became president. They worked hard to get there.

You are obviously bitter. Maybe you overpaid for your house in 2009. Lay off the Vienna Sausages. You might think more clearly with a focused diet.

Steven Thompson

Pahoa

‘Idiotic’ letter

Shawn Lathrop’s letter (“Obama a ‘Buffoon,’” Dec. 26) was one of the most idiotic things I’ve read in years. Clearly, it was written simply out of hatred without the slightest hint of logic.

Every president in my lifetime has gone home for the holidays, and each has surely enjoyed a gourmet meal or two with his family. Each has also spent much deserved vacation time in a “million dollar mansion,” but apparently Shawn has forgotten about Richard Nixon’s “Western White House” at San Clamente, or Gerald Ford’s swanky home in Palm Springs, or the Bush oceanfront compound in Kennebunkport, Maine?

Please tell me, Shawn, which of our presidents has not traveled in a limo with armed escorts that stopped traffic, or “laughed and played with his family,” or met with wealthy campaign donors?

Please, Shawn, turn off Fox News since their silliness is apparently starting to get to you.

And, by the way, Shawn, just how many of your Waikoloa neighbors are really “toiling and laboring” just to make ends meet? As I drive through, most appear to either be on the tennis courts, at the riding stables or enjoying a round of golf.

Dale Crabtree

Volcano

Too GMO-friendly

I noticed in (a recent edition) that Rep. Clift Tsuji says “food safety is of the utmost importance.” How does he reconcile his interest in food safety with his reckless promotion of genetically modified organisms (GMO)?

Rep. Tsuji, along with Rep. Calvin Say, were named national “Biotech Legislators of the Year” two years ago for using their powerful positions to block any restrictions, regulations or labeling of GMOs. There is no bigger food safety threat than unregulated GMOs in our food supply. With Rep. Tsuji’s help, Monsanto and others have made Hawaii their playground for GMO testing.

I trust Rep. Tsuji’s new-found interest in food safety will apply to the dangerous biotech mega-companies that line his pockets, and not just Hawaii’s small farmers who are struggling already to survive. It is these small farmers, not biotech agribusiness, that can feed Hawaii.

Stacey Tucker

Hawaiian Paradise Park

A bad choice

The quoted information that follows was culled from a Washington Post article, “Hawaii’s lieutenant governor is named to the U.S. Senate.”

“No one and nothing is preordained.” Agreed.

“He said Inouye’s views were taken into account but so were those of grass-roots activists and his own analysis of what was best for the state.” Let me translate that.

“Inouye’s views were taken into account …” Translation: I really don’t believe in the policies of Sen. Inouye.

“His own analysis … ” Translation: His own opinion.

“Schatz was best positioned to help Hawaii begin to rebuild its congressional seniority.” True, after all he is the youngest.

“He called Schatz ‘intelligent, forceful, insightful, committed.’” One would hope that most of the people of Hawaii are “intelligent, forceful, insightful, committed.”

“Abercrombie is close to Schatz.” Translation: Abercrombie chose a buddy. By the way, who and what are those “grass-roots activists” that hold such sway?

All together, an unctuous way to avoid granting a dying man’s last wish. I find such palaver nauseating.

Paper and plastic are equally bad. Cloth bags last nearly forever. I’m sure some of ours are two decades old by now. They won’t break, even if you fill them with Chlorox jugs. Just takes getting into the habit of walking IN with bags.

Bob Wahler

Pepeekeo

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